LVI Services Nears Completion of Historic Launch Pad 39B Dismantlement at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center

Cape Canaveral, FL - New York-based LVI Services (LVI), the nation’s leading facility management services company focusing on deconstruction and environmental remediation services, will soon complete the dismantlement of historic launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The company was chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) last year. LVI managed the controlled process of dismantling the 247-foot-high fixed and rotating structures piece-by-piece; in contrast to previous abandoned launch pad implosion techniques.

Under LVI’s management, workers dismantled the space shuttle servicing towers while protecting the concrete surface and the two existing 594-foot-tall lightning towers for reuse. The pad’s water tower will also remain in place when the project is complete, which is expected to take 6-to-7 months. The remaining facility will be useful for any number of commercial or heavy-lift rocket development purposes, according to NASA.

Launch pad 39B has a storied history, first used to launch the Saturn 5 rocket on the Apollo 10 mission of May 18, 1969. This was a dress rehearsal for the subsequent Apollo 11 lunar landing. The structures LVI Services will be deconstructing were used extensively during the Apollo launch preparations involving astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin, the first two men to land on the moon.

Subsequent missions from the launch pad 39B structure ferried crews to the Skylab space station (first in 1973), as well as the famed joint U.S./Soviet Apollo/Soyuz Saturn spacecraft (1975). After extensive reconstruction, the launch pad facility prepared 53 space shuttle missions between 1986 and 2006, beginning with the final launch of the shuttle challenger.
NASA officially deactivated launch pad 39B on January 1, 2007, making the December 9, 2006 nighttime launch of STS-116 its last shuttle mission. It was utilized another time in April and May of 2009 when space shuttle Endeavor sat on the pad, poised for a potential rescue mission that was not needed.

About LVI Services
LVI Services Inc. is the United States’ leading provider of a wide array of integrated facility services, including environmental remediation, demolition, fireproofing and related services for commercial, industrial, multi-family residential and governmental facilities. LVI focuses on projects involving asbestos, lead paint, mold, infection control, hazardous materials, fireproofing, emergency and disaster services, and demolition. Founded in 1986, LVI has more than 25 offices across the United States, is licensed in every state, and is experienced in responding to natural and man-made disasters around the world. The company’s annual revenues exceed $250 million. For more information, visit www.lviservices.com.